----* The only episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' that Creator/ChrisFarley hosted, which aired less than two months before he died of a drug overdose (it was the 23rd season[[note]]1997-1998[[/note]] and the musical guest for that episode was The Mighty Mighty Bosstones). Watching it again, it's hard not to notice how pale, clammy, and out of breath he is, not to mention his voice sounding really hoarse (which actually had more to do with him blowing it out during rehearsal, and not from drug abuse as initially speculated). In fact, Creator/ChrisRock was brought in as a back-up host in case anything happened to Farley (also Chevy Chase, even though Chase had been banned from ever hosting ''SNL'' again due to his JerkAss attitude).** In the early seasons, they did a Schiller's Reel entitled "Don't Look Back in Anger", in which John Belushi played a much older version of himself as the last surviving member of the original cast. A few years later, he was the ''first'' cast member to die.* The ''Series/ICarly'' special, "iPsycho", shows a depressed Gibby saying that he has nothing better to do than to watch ''DiffrentStrokes'' reruns. This episode aired the same week [[Series/DiffrentStrokes Gary Coleman]] passed away. Considering the "Awww" that came from the canned laughter, it may be possible that they added it at the last minute to pay tribute to him.* A first-season episode of the re-imagined ''Series/HawaiiFive0'' was centered around a tsunami -- [[http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/2011/03/11/lhvpd9/07/messagelhvpd9-07.htm around the same time as the one on March 11, 2011]]?** History Channel's ''Underwater Universe'' has been preceded by a sympathy message and filmed-prior-to-3/11/11 disclaimer ever since the quake. This is particularly relevant for the episode featuring a previous tsunami in Samoa.* The ''SeaQuestDSV'' episode "The Regulator" contains the following dialogue relating to a character who faked his death in 2003:-->'''Crocker:''' Not dead either.-->'''Bridger:''' Might as well be. A genius whose every effort failed. And then he fakes a suicide to escape the ridicule of his peers.-->'''Lucas:''' I can sympathize with that.** Pretty depressing considering Jonathan Brandis (who played Lucas) committed suicide in 2003.* Perhaps the most eerie example was the pilot episode of ''TheLoneGunmen,'' in which TheGovernment nearly succeeds in crashing an airliner into the World Trade Center and thereby creating a new era of conflict. It aired in March 2001. Yikes.-->'''BYERS SNR:''' ''[[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp The Cold War's over]], John. But with [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell no clear enemy to stockpile against]], [[WarForFunAndProfit the arms market's flat]]. But [[FalseFlagOperation bring down a fully loaded 727 into the middle of New York City]] and you'll find a dozen [[AcceptableTargets tinpot dictators]] all over the world just [[TooDumbToLive clamoring to take responsibility]], and [[WhatAnIdiot begging]] to be [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge smart-bombed]].''* The BBC children's drama ''Series/GrangeHill'' had a nasty and quite personal example of this back in 2000. The character of Judi Jeffreys was (long story short) locked in a storage room that was on fire. She tried to escape by climbing out of the window onto a nearby fire escape, and ended up falling head first to her death. The actress who played her, Laura Sadler, met her own sad and untimely demise in the exact same way about 3 years later. (That is, she fell head first out of a building to her death; but while drunk and drugged up with vodka and cocaine, not while trying to escape a fire).* In the fourth season of ''Angel'', Fred and Gunn are discussing whether or not it's good to feel. Fred says she'd rather feel the pain, she'd "take that over being a shell any day." In the fifth season, she dies and her body is used by the demon Illyria, who repeatedly refers to Fred as a shell.* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Dr Cox reacted badly to the birth of Jack, feeling ignored and like he couldn't love him. He's critical of Jordan for paying too much attention to the baby. Harmless, until we find out three years later that Jordan had ''post-partum depression''.* The ending of the ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' episode "[[CelebrityParadox Mork Meets]] Creator/RobinWilliams", where Mork gives his report to Orson about the downside of fame, which ends with a listing of celebrities who became victims of their own fame (mostly from drug overdoses). About a year later, Robin's friend, John Belushi, would die of a drug overdose.** It's also tough looking at that knowing that Robin himself had a pretty nasty cocaine habit at the time. He's said that John's death was one of the reasons he quit.** Then, William's own suicide enters the picture...* In ''Series/SanfordAndSon'', Fred Sanford had a RunningGag where he would fake a heart attack whenever something shocked or upset him. In real life, Redd Foxx died of a heart attack during a rehearsal on the set of his later show, ''TheRoyalFamily''. At first some cast and crew members thought he was just reprising his "I'm coming, Elizabeth" gag.** To top it all off, the working title for ''TheRoyalFamily''? ''Chest Pains''.* On the subject of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai''...** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Billy getting the most love interests out of the entire cast might seem HilariousInHindsight when you learn that actor David Yost is gay... until you ''also'' learn that some of the staff gay-bashing him behind the scenes (and nobody actually doing anything about it) was the reason he left the series. Not to mention that him having that many girlfriends may have been [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday a desperate attempt by the producers to have him NOT seem gay]] (even though he [[StraightGay didn't]]).** That bit near the end of ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' where [[BigBad Trakeena]], having recently [[MoralEventHorizon gone off the deep end]] due to an accidental [[TwoBeingsOneBody mash-up]] with [[TheStarscream Deviot]], turns her {{Mook}}s into suicide bombers and sends them out to do as much senseless damage as possible. It was a morally tasteless moment ''then'', with one of her closest generals [[ThisIsUnforgivable expressing horror]] at her tactics. [[WarOnTerror But now...]]** ''Series/ChoudenshiBioman'' was the first ''Super Sentai'' installment to feature a female Yellow Ranger (the original Yellow Four). However, the actress playing her (Yuki Yajima) [[McLeaned had to leave the series, so her character was killed off]] early in the series in what was also one of the few instances in the franchise where a core member of the team was killed off. While only one hero in ''Power Rangers'' was killed off within the actual [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy show]], Thuy Trang (the actress who played the first ''Power Rangers'' Yellow Ranger in ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'') ended up dying in a car accident in real life. And that's before we make it a yellow trio by mentioning the real life {{typecasting}}-induced suicide of Baku Hatakeyama, the actor who played the first ''Sentai'' Yellow Ranger in ''Series/HimitsuSentaiGoranger''.*** And when Hatakeyama took a break from the show, his character was replaced with a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, who was ''also'' killed off so Hatakeyama's character could return.*** ''Power Rangers'' has now suffered another real life Ranger death. Peta Rutter, who played Udonna, the White Ranger in ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce''. While Udonna was still alive at the end of the season, ironically, her ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' counterpart was killed off at the start of the series. Also, while ''Mystic Force'' was in production, MachikoSoga (Rita Repulsa from ''MMPR'') died, so footage of her from ''Magiranger'' as another character, which would normally have been skipped over, was used in tribute in the finale, and said to be a reformed Rita.** The page picture as of November 9th, 2011 comes from ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger''. It is a vision of a BadFuture, of what would happen if the Zyurangers failed to fully unite as a team. It was distressing enough back then, but after the earthquake in March 2011 that devastated Tokyo it's even worse.** ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' featured Ricardo Medina Jr as the villain Deker; a swordsman with a lust for battle after a curse was placed on him. This is much harder to watch after Medina has been charged with killing his roommate.* The Granada ''Series/SherlockHolmes'' episode "The Dying Detective" takes on a whole new significance when you know that Jeremy Brett, who played Holmes, died the year after it was filmed.* For ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', the speech to Cordelia about wanting to live in the world for a moment, in spite of her duty, at the time? Sad. Given everything Cordelia goes through over the course of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' for ''her'' duty? Oh dear God. * sobs*** An in-universe example, the ending of the episode "Lie To Me". Depressing and sad when aired, but the characters hadn't suffered great tragedy or major deaths yet. By the time the show is over that ending is second only to "The Body" in tear factor.** The season 3 episode "Earshot" -- whose plot involved a school sniper -- was originally withheld from airing in the U.S. because of the Columbine shootings in April 1999. The season finale, "Graduation Day, Part Two" was also postponed the following month for similar reasons. Both episodes eventually aired later that summer, "Graduation Day, Part Two" in July and "Earshot" in September.* Early in ''Series/TwentyFour'''s third season, Jack is occasionally seen wrapping a belt around his arm in preparation for shooting up heroin. This becomes even more horrifying in the season finale, when he's [[spoiler:wrapping it around Chase's arm in order to cut his hand off.]]** In the same season, after Tony learns that Michelle [[spoiler:is trapped inside a hotel whose inhabitants are infected with the Cordilla Virus]], Ryan Chappelle tells him that the best way to focus is to assume the worst and think about getting revenge. [[spoiler:In season 7, Tony's desire for revenge for Michelle's death at the start of the fifth season leads him to attempt to curry favor with the main antagonists so that he can meet up with and kill the man responsible, even if thousands of innocent civilians die in the process]].*** And that in turn winds up becoming all the more harsher for the final season [[spoiler: when Jack goes down nearly the exact same path to avenge Renee, even justifying starting a world war in order to kill the ones behind her death, at the parallels between Jack's mindset between seasons 7 and 8 now make things all the more worse. At the very beginning of season 7 when Renee compares Tony and Jack's situations with their wives' murders, Jack responds he would never go that far. And Jack yelling at Tony that he's betraying everything Michelle believed in is all the more worse when Chloe tells Jack the same thing regarding Renee exactly 24 episodes later.]]* The diffusion of the first episode of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', which contains a plane accident, in France coincided with the Rio-Paris plane crash...The episode was broadcast one week later instead.* ''Series/DoctorWho''** The serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet "The Tenth Planet"]], first shown in 1966, has a spacecraft lost with all hands in 1986.** The Doctor's [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "One day, I shall come back"]] speech from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth "The Dalek Invasion of Earth"]]. [[spoiler:Unless you count the ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'', he doesn't come back.]]** In-universe example: the final scene of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]], which implied that every statue could be a Weeping Angel, was already [[NightmareFuel/DoctorWho horrific]] enough. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]] [[spoiler:turned that concept into reality]]. [[SarcasmMode Have sweet dreams.]]** Another one from "Blink"/"The Time of Angels": Sally gave the Doctor a photo of an angel. Image of an Angel, anyone?** Another one: the HappinessInSlavery thing the Ood from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet "The Impossible Planet"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit "The Satan Pit"]] have going is cringe-inducing enough. Then [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E3PlanetOfTheOod a couple seasons later]] we find out [[spoiler:it's because they've been lobotomized]].** The Doctor's worst fear (introduced in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno "Inferno"]] and reiterated in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil "The Mind of Evil"]]) is that of a burning planet. [[spoiler:Guess what [[ShootTheDog he had no choice but to do to Gallifrey]] in the Time War.]]** What nearly happens to Sir Keith in that episode is eerily prescient of what happened to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Silkwood Karen Silkwood]] a few years later.** The episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead "Forest of the Dead"]] ends with [[spoiler: River Song]] making a HeroicSacrifice. At the time, it's pretty sad, but we don't really feel much connection to her since she'd only just been introduced. But as the show continues, we find out more about her and her relationship with the Doctor, and that first episode becomes [[{{Tearjerker}} simply heartbreaking]] to watch...especially once you realize the Doctor himself should have mourned her death far more than he did, it was just unlucky chance that he didn't know her when she died.*** [[spoiler: And remember, the Doctor KNOWS River's fate. He knows the date and destiny of the daughter of Amy and Rory Pond. As uplifting a note as the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes To War]]" ends on, remembering that the Doctor already knows when it is that she dies, and that she dies for him, can be quite the FridgeHorror moment - the daughter of the companions that he has come to look at as his family died for him before he knew who she was or even met her parents.]] ''And'' it was probably intentional.** The Seventh Doctor, distraught over the [[spoiler: apparent death of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart,]] in "Battlefield", tells him "You should have died in bed!" Fast forward to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong The Wedding of River Song]]"...** The conclusion of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]'' where the Doctor is forced to "change his appearance" before going into exile is now seen as being forced to use one of his 12 regenerations. Ergo, the modern viewer would see this as the Doctor being ''executed'' after a fashion by shortening his lifespan.*** It's even worse. Remember what the Tenth Doctor was saying about regeneration? The man he was dies and a new person walks off. He ''was'' executed.** In "The Pandorica Opens", the Eleventh Doctor makes a big, grandiose speech to all the alien spaceships, telling them that if they want the Pandorica, they have to get through him, and reminding them of all the times he beat them. [[spoiler: It turns out that the aliens weren't after the Pandorica at all, and it was instead a trap set by them to imprison The Doctor.]] Bet that speech doesn't seem so grand now.** It is obviously unimaginably horrible to have your child stolen from you. This is made even worse when we find out in "Asylum of the Dalek s" that [[spoiler: Rory ALWAYS wanted children and Amy is infertile as a result of what happened on Demon's Run.]] Made even more heartbreaking when you realize that [[spoiler: Amy]] had a very noticeable BSOD in "A Good Man Goes to War" but [[spoiler: Rory]] never outwardly reacted, opting to stay strong for his wife even though he must have been completely crushed.** "Day Of The Moon", in which Amy Pond [[spoiler: shoots the little girl in the astronaut suit to save the future Doctor's life]] becomes almost painful to watch when you realize that [[spoiler: said little girl was actually Melody/River Song, the baby daughter stolen from her later in the season]].** The crossover sketch the original show did with ''Jim'll Fix It'', [[Recap/DoctorWho1985JFIGSAFixWithSontarans "A Fix with Sontaran s"]]. Did the Sixth Doctor and Tegan give Whoniverse Gareth the [[DeathRay meson gun]] to protect him from Creator/JimmySavile or to protect Savile -- and the timeline -- from them? Six had been shown to kill...*** A DVD extra recorded in 2006 on "The Sontaran Experiment" briefly covers that sketch -- after a clip of the OhCrap from the Doctor and Tegan, Creator/ColinBaker notes, "Creator/JimmySavile is much more frightening than the Sontarans. Much more." This is only made worse after the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.** The [[WhamLine line]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek You would make a good Dalek.]]" becomes a lot more meaningful and tragic by the time of learning about the fate of [[spoiler:[[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor the Eighth Doctor]]. Cass' treatment of the doctor with comparing the Time Lords are no different than the Daleks eventually brings this doctor through DespairEventHorizon.]]** The massive AssPull in "Journey's End" of 10 sending excess regeneration energy into a hand is treated as a wonderful thing as it allows Rose Tyler to get her own Doctor. However in "The Time of the Doctor" it's confirmed (after endless fan discussions) that the process used up an entire regeneration, meaning 11 is in fact the Doctor's final regeneration.** The line "No, not the MindProbe" from the Castellan in "The Five Doctors" is treated comically by fans as one of the most famous Doctor Who pieces of {{Narm}}. However in the book [[Recap/NewSeriesAdventuresEnginesOfWar Engines of War]] the Gallifreyan Mind Probe is used on Cinder, showing how horrible it really is.* Several BBC shows hosted by Creator/JimmySavile have him copping feels whenever he gets the chance live on air. At the time no one thought anything of it and it just looked like he was being playful. Then it turned out he'd molested over 400 children, reportedly.** Similarly, one episode of pre-school show ''Series/{{Tweenies'}}' has one character [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21108337 impersonating Savile.]]* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' story "Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith" is about Sarah Jane struggling with senility brought on by a terminal illness. [[spoiler:In fact, the illness was fabricated by Sarah Jane's replacement, and once she's defeated, Sarah Jane instantly recovers.]] And to think Creator/ElisabethSladen must have known she was ill when she filmed them. The episode was also the last one to air while Lis Sladen was still alive.** Even worse, in the fourth episode of the fifth series, which was aired after her death, Sarah Jane says "It feels like someone has died."* At the end of season two of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', Dexter has trapped [[spoiler:James Doakes]] in a cage inside a remote cabin in the Everglades after he found out Dexter was a serial killer. Trying to convince his captor to turn himself in, [[spoiler:Doakes]] describes Dexter's urge to kill as being "like a cancer - and in case you haven't noticed, it's spreading". Michael C. Hall contracted Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2010, before recovering later that year.* The ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' story "Netherlands", which aired in May of 2001. [[http://www.touched.com/episodeguide/seasonseven/723.html The plot]] has heroine Monica witnessing a building being destroyed by a bomb. Many are killed, and though she's an angel she has a crisis of faith that culminates in her being tempted to forsake God by Satan himself. ([=CBS=] pulled a scheduled repeat in the wake of 9/11.)* Its longevity has made Series/LawAndOrder and its numerous versions teem with examples of this:** In a season 16 episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'', after a hit list is discovered with Jack's name on it, Alexandra Borgia advises him to hand the case off to someone else because it might save his life. Five months later [[spoiler: she's tortured and killed because of a case she's working on.]] What's more, Arthur Branch tells Jack she would have fought him tooth and nail if he'd tried to take her off the case.*** Another example would be an early episode called "Second Opinion", where the victim was killed by a quack remedy for her cancer, and Lt. Van Buren and Detective Briscoe are discussing the woman's condition. Briscoe's actor, Jerry Orbach, died of cancer, and a final season story arc involved Van Buren receiving a scare about possible cancer.** In an April 2009 episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' entitled "Rock Star", a musician falls to his death in an elevator shaft in a building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In November of that same year, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Fuchs Jerry Fuchs]], the drummer for various indie rock bands such as !!! and The Juan Maclean, [[http://www.avclub.com/newyork/articles/drummer-jerry-fuchs-dead-after-fall-down-elevator,35122/ died pretty much the same way in a similar building in the same neighborhood]]. However, unlike in the episode, [[spoiler:where the musician was ''pushed'' down the shaft]], Fuchs actually fell while trying to jump from a stalled elevator to the next floor. Still pretty damn eerie.** ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' : LifeImitatesArt, although at least one version might have been deliberate: An episode about a pedophile coach aired a few weeks before the Penn State scandal broke and an episode about a couple faking a kidnapping to cover up the [[spoiler: accidental]] death of their baby may have caused a real-life woman to try and do the same thing [[spoiler: maybe she missed the end where they couple was caught]]. Fortunately [[RuleOfThree the next episode]] (about a pair of killers who [[spoiler: kill their classmate and almost succeed in pinning it on a feeble-minded neighbor]]) hasn't happened... as far as we know...** In-universe example for ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'': An episode in which the detectives are investigating the shooting death of an officer has DS Matt Devlin musing to partner Ronnie Brooks that it must be tough to lose a partner, then immediately cringing as he remembers that Ronnie ''has'' lost a partner to violence. Another episode that also involved the shooting death of an officer had Ronnie stating, "God forbid Matty here got himself shot, I'd be out there straightaway trying to find who did it and string him up myself"*** [[spoiler: Approximately a year later, Matt was killed in a drive-by shooting. The irony becomes even crueler when you recall that it was always MATT who would flip out if/when Ronnie was in danger.]]*** And a more typical one: Matt was killed by someone seeking revenge against the police for bungling the investigation into his brother's murder—something he had nothing to do with. The recent murders of two NYPD officers by a man who wanted to avenge the death of Eric Garner (a man suffocated by the cops as they attempted to restrain and arrest him for selling loose cigarettes. The officer who applied the fatal chokehold was not indicted) bears an eerie similarity, right down to the fact that the officers in question had nothing to do with the aforementioned incident and that their killer was intentionally targeting the police. * Parodied in ''Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow'' when a hunter is making a tasteless joke about hunting accidents at the expense of a friend -- the friend died in a hunting accident just the other day. He insists that this makes it exceptionally funny, while the other members of the hunting party are more reluctant to laugh.* There were a lot of moments on the TV show ''Series/{{Titus}}'' in which Titus's dad doubted that his son and Erin would be together forever, which Titus tried to prove wrong time and again. In reality, Christoper Titus and his wife Erin Carden (the inspiration for the character's girlfriend) divorced three years after the show was canceled (and, in the comedy special ''Love Is Evol'', Titus revealed that Erin [renamed "Kate" for legal reasons] tried to ruin his life to the point that Titus wanted to kill himself and denounce his faith in God -- until he found love with a woman who wasn't a psycho-bitch and had a normal, loving family, something that Titus initially found odd as he's never been around mentally stable women or loving, functional families).* In a 2007 episode of ''Series/KitchenNightmares'', celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay told New Jersey restaurateur Joseph Cerniglia that his business was "about to swim down the Hudson." In 2010 Cerniglia's body was found -- in the Hudson -- in an [[http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/27/2010-09-27_host_gordon_ramsay_made_haunting_remark_to_dead_kitchen_nightmares_chef_joseph_c.html apparent suicide]].** Rachel Brown, a contestant from ''Series/HellsKitchen'' [[http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20017911-10391704.html also committed suicide]]. * In the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek TOS]]'' episode "Assignment: Earth", Spock mentions that one of the events that occurred during the Enterprise's visit to Earth in 1968 was an assassination. The episode was first aired on March 29, 1968. Six days later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. Robert F. Kennedy was killed that year as well.* [[Series/TheColbertReport Stephen Colbert's]] astronaut training clips are a bit less funny since the wife of the shuttle pilot who helped him was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting targeted for assassination]] -- she was shot in the head but survived; unfortunately the mentally unstable shooter killed six other people, including a federal judge and a little girl who was born on 9/11 who had just been elected class president.* The ''Series/HillStreetBlues'' season one episode "Life, Death, Eternity, Etc." features the sudden death of a secondary character due to ill health, causing Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (perhaps the most beloved character in the series, played by Michael Conrad) to ponder the transient nature of life. Michael Conrad would die three years later at the age of 57 due to cancer, with Sgt. Esterhaus dying in a special episode timed to correspond with the actor's death.* The ''Series/{{MASH}}'' episode "Blood Brothers" features Patrick Swayze as Pvt. Sturgis, a wounded soldier diagnosed with leukemia (which in the 1950s had a much higher mortality rate than it does now). Almost thirty years after the episode aired, Swayze himself died of cancer (it was pancreatic cancer, not leukemia).** The same episode had this trope intentionally written-in. When Swayze's character learns he has leukemia, and Hawkeye urges him to go to Tokyo to begin experimental treatments, Swayze's character cynically predicts "they'll have a cure in twenty years!" The episode aired in the early 80s, more then twenty years after the Korean War ended, and no, there's no cure.** (In-universe) Watching the episode 'Ceasefire' is a whole lot harder after knowing the outcome of 'Abyssinia, Henry', especially the exchange between Henry and Radar about meeting up after the war ends is heartbreaking.* Following a nasty contract dispute, Susan St. James was McLeaned from ''McMillan And Wife'' by having her character and infant son killed in an airplane crash. Nearly 30 years later, St. James' son was killed, and her husband (Dick Ebersol -- the same one who was hired to fix ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' after Jean Doumanian wrecked it in the early 1980s) and another son critically injured, in a plane crash.* Pretty much ''anything'' that focused on Captain Phil Harris in Season 6, to deliberate effect. 'Catch' fans knew that Phil's death was going to be documented and thought the four months between his death and the showing would help steel themselves, but it still made it all the more unnerving when it happened on TV. One particular moment: In the episode "Valhalla", which documented the fleet's reactions to the death of Phil, Sig Hansen goes to meet ''Cornelia Marie'' relief captain Derek Ray in Saint Paul. While talking with Sig, Derek commented he could only take up so much of Phil's space in the wheelhouse so the only thing he removed was the ashtray. Sig joked that Phil would find that funny. Problem was, none of the fleet knew that Phil had passed yet, so Derek broke the news. It was awkward from that point on.** Similarly, season three's final moment (as part of the Northwestern crew meeting with their families at the docks at the end of the season) is a shot of Jake Anderson hugging his father, who was waiting for him along with the families of the rest of the crew. Several seasons later, Jake's dad was murdered under mysterious circumstance (the murder remains unsolved) and worse, his body was not found for over 18 months, leaving Jake tormented with the lack of closure.*** The Jake Anderson/Phil Harris tragedies were made harsher when you consider that they happened at the same time. Worse, was Jake having to repress his anger and jealousy towards Josh and Jake Harris, over the fact that they at least had closure regarding their father's death. At the time of filming, Anderson's father's body had not been found (and ultimately was found inbetween seasons 7 and 8)** This year's ''After The Catch'' is/was in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, where that area's fishermen are experiencing some very bad times due to the Gulf Coast oil spill. This is addressed a few episodes later when the captains see the effects of the spill up close; having lived through the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill Exxon Valdez oil spill]] themselves the Gulf spill is especially disturbing. It's also noted that all the fishing-related activities they did have since been shut down indefinitely.** In the home video of a crew not associated with the show, one man jokingly said that his friends ought to be on ''Deadliest Catch''. The video aired as part of a special episode after the ship sank with either one or no survivors.* ''Series/BurnNotice'': S1, Episode 9, "Wanted Man". The Libyan spy that Michael is cultivating comments, "The security forces of my country are not known for being gentle." This has been dramatically proven; as of the day of this edit, the 2011 Libyan Uprising riots are being suppressed--with gunship strafing.* The ''Series/{{Route 66}}'' episode "I'm Here to Kill a King" has Tod and Linc encountering a would-be political assassin who [[EvilTwin looks just like Tod]]. The episode was originally scheduled to air on the night of November 29, 1963; after the real-life assassination of President JohnFKennedy exactly one week earlier, CBS pulled the episode from its schedule, and it was not seen until the series went into syndication several years later.* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Beyond The Sea" opens with [[spoiler:Captain William Scully, Scully's father]], dying of a massive coronary off screen. Fourteen years later [[spoiler:Don S. Davis]] who played him would die of the exact same thing.* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "2010", it was mentioned that General Hammond (Don S. Davis' character) had died of a massive heart attack in 2004. It turned out that only four years after this date, Davis did indeed die of a heart attack.** Also, In the Season 5 two-parter finale (the end of the first part, more specifically), when introduced to Hammond's temporary replacement, Weaver, Bra'tac asks if Hammond of Texas (his term of respect for the General) had fallen in battle. It becomes a lot more harsh when watching it after Davis' death.* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' featured an episode in which the girls, in the end, made a pact to always take care of each other, even if it meant going to the same nursing homes. At which point, Rose, played by Creator/BettyWhite, asks the question "What happens when there's only one of us left?" Fast forward to 2012, where White is now the only member of the cast who's still alive (making that line from her ''SNL'' monologue, about how she uses a Ouija board instead of Facebook to contact old friends, really sad in an episode that's otherwise considered one of the funniest in recent memory).** To rub salt in on the wound, Creator/EstelleGetty, who played Sophia, the oldest character on the show, nonchalantly replies that she'll be able to take care of herself at that point. Getty would die first of the four, despite being younger than Co-Stars Betty White and Bea Arthur.* One episode of ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' had this exchange:-->'''Berta''': You ever gonna stop drinking?-->'''Charlie''': No, I'll just stop waking up.** Meant as a joke, but considering that Charlie died due to his hedonism[[note]]and the actions that his actor did that resulted in his getting fired from the show.[[/note]] as of season 9...it's not* In one episode of ''EverybodyLovesRaymond'', there is a rather unpleasant scene where Ray tells Debra that he found out that their daughter Ally has been bullying another girl on the school bus. Debra shrugs it off, saying she doesn't think it's a big deal and that it's just kids being kids. When Ray asserts that bullying is indeed a big deal and notes that he and Robert are still scarred from their own experiences, Debra smirks and calls him a wuss, and then starts calling Ray names. [[UnfortunateImplications The studio audience roars with laughter and approval during the whole scene]], which was filmed in 2000. Fast-forward a decade later, and [[TeensAreMonsters the recent spate of high-profile bullying-related suicides, the bullying of an elderly school employee by children (on the school bus, no less), and other bullying-related incidents]] makes this scene more uncomfortable now. It really makes one imagine that a studio audience in 2010 or 2012 would be much more likely to cringe than laugh during that scene, really making Ray look like the OnlySaneMan.* On TheNanny, there was one episode where Fran and Maxwell are being hounded by the paparazzi, who invent a phony story about Maxwell and Fran. Later on, they go to the tabloid's office to confront the editor, and he glibly announces his plans to go back to hounding Princess Diana. Given the fact that just a few years later Diana died--while trying to escape from the paparazzi no less--this scene is certainly much more awkward now.* The last episode of ''Series/StElsewhere'', released in 1988, had a LogoJoke where throughout the credits, Mimsie, the cat from the MTM logo, was seen on a hospital bed as the beeps of a life monitor played in the background. When the credits ended, Mimsie flatlined. Mimsie died for real that exact same year.* There was an episode of Series/JackAndBobby where teenaged Jack gets a track injury that sidelines him for the season. At first, one is inclined to believe that this will only lead to some usual teenage {{Wangst}} and nothing more...until the documentary from the future reveals that [[spoiler: the injury became a long-term weakness. It gave Jack recurring pains in his knee that eventually resulted in his not being fast enough to escape enemy fire during a war in the future]], resulting in [[spoiler: his death]].** That last spoiler is incorrect [[spoiler: Jack didn't die in the war, he died in an armed robbery after he was elected to Congress]].* Tori Spelling's short-lived sitcom ''So [=NoTorious=]'' was a self-parodying look at her life as a struggling actress and daughter of Hollywood royalty. It featured caricatured versions of her parents: her mother as a glamorous yet passive-aggressive nutjob, and her father as...basically the speakerbox from ''Series/CharliesAngels''. A year later, Aaron Spelling dies, and Candy Spelling basically disinherits Tori. Maybe she hit a nerve there...* ''Series/TheDailyShow'': In one episode, Jon Stewart was commenting on the rising unemployment rates, the increasing deficit, and lack of solid political leadership with a very simple "We're doomed!" The day that episode aired? September 10th, 2001.* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': There's a running storyline through the show that Monica is TheUnfavourite. The main reason for this is because the Gellers believed they couldn't have children, so Ross was a huge (and happy) surprise to them. Monica coming along later wasn't such a special event and the situation was made worse by Ross winning lots of scientific awards in school whereas Monica wanted to be a chef which isn't so overtly prestigious. The storyline was always played for bitter-sweet humour, but in the later years of the show, when Chandler and Monica try to have children, they learn they're both infertile. The storyline was triggered by Monica's actress having problems in real life and the writers deciding to address it in the show. With hindsight, knowing the pain Chandler and Monica go through later in the show, the subject of infertility being in the Geller family is even harsher than it was before, an all infertility jokes (including Chandler joking that he's incapable of having children in the final episode of series 3) are much less funny when rewatched.** In an episode of season two, there's a plot deciding that Chandler is HollywoodPudgy. This isn't particularly funny to begin with, as he had no idea he'd gained any weight and the plot consists of Monica treating him badly because she needs a project and ending with him making her depression over life worse. But with Perry's weight issues from his drug addiction, ranging from looking like a sunken in skeleton with skin in season three to bloated in season six, it gets even more uncomfortable.* More of a heartbreaker than "harsh", but still: The Series 1 finale of ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' has Mrs. Hughes warn Tom, following a warm moment with Sybil, "Be careful, my lad, or you'll end up with no job and a broken heart." [[spoiler: Come 3x05, that's exactly what has happened, with his wife dead and his job in Ireland forever out of reach.]]* Could be this or {{Hilarious In Hindsight}} depending on your point of view, but the comment from Mrs Miggins in {{Blackadder}} regarding a French aristocrat being served a horse's willy instead of a sausage takes on a different meaning after the UK "horsemeat in beef products" scandal.* ''Series/PadreCoraje'': The people thought that dictator Manuel Costa had "died", and got divided in two halves: those who openly celebrated his death, and those who tried to give him the respect DueToTheDead. A funeral was hosted at the church... and Manuel Costa, who was NotQuiteDead, interrupted it shouting "Don't celebrate yet!". The problem was not in the plot, but in the date: the episode was aired on March 5 of the 2013 rerun at the "Volver" channel. Yes, the same day that Hugo Chavez died. There's nothing intentional: it was a daily telenovela, and on March 5 they simply aired the next pisode of the annual queue, as every other day. * During ''Series/TheWestWing'' season 5 finale Leo suffers a major heart attack. 2 years later John Spencer died from a massive heart attack.** Made even harsher by the fact that in the one of the last episodes Spencer appears Josh asks Leo to take a bigger role in the presidential campaign to which Leo responds "You're all trying to kill me." And then within weeks Spencer was dead. ** Also, in the two-part season 2 premiere "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen," which is about an assassination attempt, the National Security Advisor notes that they don't know the whereabouts of several international terrorists, including OsamaBinLaden. This aired in September of 2000, when Bin Laden was known for implementing several acts of terror, but not as universally known as he would be just one year later.* On ''Series/StorageWars'' there episode of Darrell baiting Mark Balelo into buying a multi-vault causing him to lose money and to go ballistic. Normally, it would be funny but Mark had committed suicide before that episode aired.* ''Series/{{Conan}}'' did an extended gag about the English nurse who was fooled by an Australian DJ pretending to be the Queen in December 2012. The episode was repeated on Australian television in March 2013, three months after the nurse committed suicide.* Seeing footage of Crowded House drummer Paul Hester on shows such as ''Rockwiz'' and his own ''Hessie's Shed'' can be painful given that his goofy public persona masked depression that eventually led to suicide.* The {{Series/SevenDays}} episode "Pinball Wizard" featured an aircraft being crashed into the ThePentagon during an attack, complete with faux footage of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOH1sIfCp4w#t=465s the building with one side blown in]], and faux news coverage of the wreckage and mass casualties. It was filmed in 1999.** There was also an episode where a bunch of terrorists rammed a helicopter full of explosives into the Statue of Liberty.* ''Series/TheSopranos''. During Christopher's drug intervention, he counters Tony's criticism of his addiction by decrying Tony's weight and says that he's gonna die of a heart attack by the time he's 50. James Gandolfini died of just that on 19 June 2013, at the age of 51.* Hollyoaks character Amy Barnes had the same name as actress Amy Leigh Barnes, who actually appeared in a minor role in the show, and her domestic violence storyline chillingly echoed the reality of the actress' tragic death.* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': The episodes involving Romulus have gained a little bit of a bittersweet overtone since their airing. "The Defector" had a disgraced and banished Romulan Admiral who'd defected to stop an all-out Romulan/Federation war [[spoiler:(actually part of a ploy by Romulus to ''start'' said war, albeit the Admiral didn't know that)]], leaving behind a suicide note to be delivered to his child; the ending played up the hopes that, one day, relations would eventually be good enough between the two sides that the Federation could deliver it personally. The two-parter "Unification" ends on a hopeful note that the young of Romulus will eventually replace their warmongering elders and embrace their relationship with Vulcan on far more friendly terms. [[spoiler:Neither will happen; the Romulus of this universe was canonically vaporized by a supernova in ''Film/StarTrek'', giving Nero the impetus to go back in time and screw around with the alternate universe of the Abrams films.]]** The second season episode "Pen Pals" has Wesley Crusher confiding to Commander Riker that he's scared of making a mistake where someone dies. [[spoiler:Wesley ends up making a stupid mistake that kills a Starfleet classmate in the fifth season episode "The First Duty".]]* The ''Series/{{Glee}}'' Season 3 Boxset has a small extra called 'Saying Goodbye'; it was originally supposed to be a 'goodbye' for the characters who graduated high school, but gets a sadder new meaning after Creator/CoryMonteith's death on July 13, 2013.** There is also a scene in the 3rd season where his character Finn is devastated to find out [[spoiler:his father was an addict who died of a drug overdose]], which is similarly made very difficult to watch due to the manner of Cory's death.* In the ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'' episode "And the Sky Full of Stars", Sinclair is tortured and driven mad during an interrogation attempt. At the end of the season, he ends up leaving the station. In 2013, series creator J.MichaelStraczynski revealed that actor Michael O'Hare, left the series because he was suffering from severe mental illness. It's hard to watch "Sky Full of Stars" without thinking that it probably contributed to his illness.* Al Gough's [[spoiler:suicide]] in the ''Series/FlashForward2009'' episode "The Gift" is incredibly eerie to watch when you consider that his actor Lee Thompson Young did the same on August 19, 2013.* On Series/{{NCIS}}, Gibb's reaction to [[spoiler: finding out the ManBehindTheMan was the ''father'']] in "See No Evil" may just possibly be the most massive in-universe [[HarsherInHindsight Fridge]] [[TearJerker Tearjerker]] in history. [[spoiler: After seeing another man ready to throw away what he himself would do anything to get back, ''nobody'' can fault him for having a crack in his armor.]]* Series/TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries: the episode "Arson & Old Lace"...where an arsonist torches a tall skyscraper, not only trapping Joe Hardy and a small child in an office room, but also trapping Frank Hardy and Nancy Drew in the penthouse, with an unworking elevator & the access stair to the roof welded shut. After helping panicked office workers find the stairs through heavy smoke and flames, Joe shields a child from an explosion with his own body (the explosion blows out a window and a good part of the outer wall), then convinces the child to jump with him out of the window -- as the fire has cut off all escape routes. Post-9/11 and the WTC tragedy, this episode is now hard to watch: people on the upper floors of the WTC were not only trapped by the raging fires below them, but couldn't use the access stairs to the roof, as it'd been sealed shut. Many of those jumped to their deaths in an effort to escape the fire. The episode had only been meant as a cheesy ripoff to ''The Towering Inferno'', but still...* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' episode "Home is Where the Heart Attack Is" has Uncle Phil suffering a heart attack from overindulging on fatty foods. This becomes sadder after James Avery died in December 2013 of complications from open-heart surgery.* Season 7 of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' had an episode, "Fannysmacking," where Greg was caught by a group of youths, some black, who made a hobby out of casually assaulting tourists. Cornered, Greg kills one of them in self-defense, and is traumatized. It then becomes a running plot for the rest of the season that Greg is put on trial for the killing, with the victim's mother refusing to recognize what her son did and trying to paint Greg as a heartless killer. Following the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman incident, the whole arc takes on... ''implications.''* J.T. Yorke of ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' was [[LonelyFuneral only one of three people to attend the funeral]] for Rick Murray after he was killed in season 4 (the other two being Rick's mom and Toby). Sadly, JT would be the next Degrassi student to die; he was stabbed to death two seasons later.* On Series/HowIMetYourMother, one of the final season's episodes was devoted to showing what Tracy (the titular Mother) has been doing all this time, which partly revolves around the tragic death of her fiancé. The episode ends with her mournfully playing a ukulele and tearfully singing "La Vie En Rose" over a montage of all of the regular cast looking lost and bereft. It was already a heartbreaking sequence, but was made ten times worse in the series finale, when it was revealed that [[spoiler: Tracy herself is dead and Ted has been telling his children this story as part of mourning her loss.]]* ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' had the season 4 episode "Talk to Me" where Reverend Eric Camden (played by Stephen Collins) counsels a young girl who was molested. 14 years after the episode was aired, TMZ leaked an audio recording of Collins admitting to now ex-wife Faye Grant that he had molested several underage children decades before. The fallout from the scandal probably destroyed the reputation of the entire series as well, as Eric was portrayed as a caring father and pastor who sought to bring his family together in times of stress. Having an actor who was the opposite of that personality is truly shocking.** Pretty much any scene in which he looks at or touches or thinks about an underage girl is now this trope, especially since he admitted it was true.* At the beginning of AgentsOfSHIELD's second season, a brain-damaged Agent Fitz (who is Scottish) is left unable to properly function without his best friend Simmons(who is English). The episode aired shortly after Scotland voted against independence from England. * One early ''Series/BlueHeelers'' episode has Dash open a suspicious parcel to find a pig's head, public reaction to a police shooting, and Nick freaks and tears into her because it could have been a bomb. Channel Seven actually reaired the episode on the day the station bombing storyline also ran, which Nick was investigating.* In the ''Series/GrowingPains'' 4th season episode "Feet of Clay" Ben meets his favorite rock star Jonathan Keith (a young Creator/BradPitt) and is disillusioned when he discovers him cheating on his wife. Ben then questions what other celebrities might be unfaithful ...like Creator/BillCosby. His father reassures him that Cosby would do no such thing, but Ben might have been onto something.* In the ''Series/{{JAG}}'' episode where Commander Mick Brumby returns to Australia, the cast begin singing "Waltzing Matilda" to him as he departs. Not only would that clip be replayed for a memorial segment after Goddard's death, but considering that the song ends with the jolly swagman's suicide, it takes on a new light after actor Trevor Goddard's suicide.----